GATORS PREVAIL AT PEACH BOWL
Fourth straight win, third by more than 25 points, shows potential of UF attack
Florida head coach Dan Mullen is drenched in a sport drink by running back Jordan Scarlett during the last seconds of the Peach Bowl between Florida and Michigan on Saturday in Atlanta. The Gators beat the Wolverines 41-15. For more coverage, please see
ATLANTA — As the confetti fell and flashbulbs pulsated at Mercedes-Benz Stadium, Florida senior pass rusher CeCe Jefferson wished he was coming back for more.
The 23-year-old’s final game with the Gators showed him what he would be missing. It also left Jefferson to wonder what might have been if coach Dan Mullen had arrived earlier.
Even so, UF’s 41-15 win during Saturday’s Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl was a nice way for Jefferson to close his college career and the Gators to polish off a promising turnaround during Mullen’s first season.
Looking for a statement win on a big stage, the No. 10 Gators routed No. 7 Michigan, which held College Football Playoff aspirations back in late November. Florida’s fourth consecutive win — and third by more than 25 points — also showed the potential of an attack Mullen was hired to fix following three seasons of offense futility under Jim McElwain.
Jefferson can only imagine how good the Gators would have been during his first three years in Gainesville if Mullen had been calling plays.
“What would have been like all four years? I’d probably have three SEC Championships — working on my fourth this year — and possibly two nattys,” a sweatsoaked Jefferson said. “When the offense is clicking, you get the results like this — that’s all she wrote. They know the defense is going to come out and show out every time.”
With an announced crowd of 74,006 looking on, the Gators (10-3) dominated the Wolverines (10-3) on both sides of the football and broke open a close game with a 28-point second half.
Playing his final college game before leaving for the NFL, defensive back Chauncey GardnerJohnson ended the Gators’ assault with a 30-yard pick-six — the second interception of the day for the game’s defensive MVP.
Michigan entered the day as the nation’s leader in total defense but were without secondteam All-America linebacker Devin Bush and top defensive tackle Rashan Gary. Each decided to begin preparing for the NFL.
The idea never crossed Gardner-Johnson’s mind.
“He’s committed to this team.
He's committed to this staff,” Jefferson said of Gardner-Johnson. “It was no surprise to me he came out and had the success that he had.”
A year removed from a 4-7 finish, Gardner-Johnson and the Gators were determined to end 2018 on a high note.
“This year was nothing but joy,” he said. “This game right here, one step closer to the program being back to where it was.”
With their third win against a ranked team in 2018, the Gators are sure to finish with their highest ranking since the 2009 team ended No. 3 in Tim Tebow's final season. That was the last time Florida won a top-tier bowl game, too.
To win one Saturday, the Gators would have beat Michigan for the first time in five meetings, a stretch that included losses by a combined score of 74-24 during the 2016 Citrus Bowl and 2017 season opener.
The Wolverines were 5.5-point favorites but also short-handed without Bush, Gary and two starters on offense.
The Gators took advantage behind timely play-calling by Mullen and his staff, along with a versatile showing by quarterback Feleipe Franks.
Franks finished the day with 247 total yards, including 74 on the ground, to earn offensive MVP honors. He also was 13-of-23 passing for 173 yards and a touchdown to give him 24 passing touchdowns a season after Franks looked lost.
Then Mullen arrived. “The biggest thing he helped me do, I would say, is just gain my confidence back,” Franks said. “Last year I don't think my confidence could have got any lower.”
Against Michigan, Franks was confident and in command of the Gators' offense.
The redshirt sophomore's biggest play of the day followed an audible he called to catch the Wolverines flat-footed.
With UF trailing 10-6 and facing third-and-four from the Wolverines' 20-yard line, the 6-foot-6, 240-pound Franks took the snap and raced up the middle of the field for the go-ahead touchdown.
“You just see the guys understanding and working together in the system,” Mullen said. “Feleipe did a good job calling that right there.”
A big play on defense by Gardner-Johnson helped the Gators
begin to pull away from the Wolverines.
Locked onto his receiver beginning to separate from a UF defender down field, Michigan quarterback Shea Patterson did not see Gardner-Johnson lurking. When Patterson let go of the football, Gardner-Johnson ran it down, came up with the interception and returned it 47 yards to the Michigan 44.
Facing a fourth-and-one three plays later, Mullen used a timeout. Eschewing conservatism, the Gators dialed up a jet sweep for Kadarius Toney, who raced 30 yards — a play call Mullen credited to QBs coach Brian Johnson.
Two plays later, the Gators scored on a 5-yard tunnel screen to tailback Lamical Perine, who later added a 53-yard touchdown run to ice the game.
Known for his play-calling acumen, Mullen deadpanned, “I really didn't do a whole lot today.”
The line drew laughter in the postgame press conference.
But Mullen's players knew better.
“He's a guru,” Jefferson said.
“He's a guru.”
Mullen's arrival and his magic touch have revived the Gators and given the program a wave of momentum entering 2019. Before the year ended, the 46-year-old gave players like Jefferson, GardnerJohnson and Franks a lifetime memory.
“It's just a great feeling, tears of joy,” Franks said. “I”ve always wanted to have confetti falling down on me, winning championships.
“Coach Mullen's bringing that back to Florida.”